So sorry, Coke diet addict. The World Health Organization (WHO) designated aspartame, an artificial sweetener commonly used in diet sodas, as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” on Thursday – despite claims conflicting decision from the US Food and Drug Administration.
This decision was made by a panel of 25 researchers and experts at WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), who published their decision in Lancet Cancer. The committee wrote that the classification was the result of “limited” evidence that aspartame causes cancer in humans along with “adequate” evidence of cancer in animal models such as mice.
While this decision does not change the WHO’s recommendation to limit daily aspartame consumption, it classifies it as a carcinogen like red meat. However, the evidence does not conclusively prove that it is as dangerous as proven carcinogens such as tobacco, asbestos and greenhouse gases.
“WHO uses that term ‘probably’ to indicate agents that are unlikely to be involved in cancer development — but there is fundamentally disturbing evidence in animals,” said Neil M. Iyengar, Medical oncologist and exercise oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, told The Daily Beast. “That doesn’t always lead to the same effect in humans.”
However, the WHO findings are not considered to be a general consensus: the FDA itself issued a statement forNPR expressed her disagreement, saying that just because the substance was labeled as potentially carcinogenic “doesn’t mean aspartame is actually linked to cancer.” This further underscores the murky and controversial nature of the sweetener and whether it poses a threat to human health.
What is Aspartame?
Aspartame is an artificial sweetener that was discovered in 1965 after a chemist named James Schlatter, who was in the process of developing an ulcer medicine, licked his finger to turn the pages of a book. He immediately tasted a strong sweetness which he later discovered was due to a solution made of aspartic acid and phenylalanine.
This substance is known as a non-nutritive sweetener, which means it does not provide any meaningful nutrients in the form of calories to the body. Therefore, it is commonly used in beverages such as diet sodas, juices, flavored waters, and also food products such as unsweetened ice cream, chewing gum, and candy.
Aspartame is about 200 times sweeter than regular sugar, which makes it an effective food and drink additive for people trying to lose weight or just controlling their sugar intake. body.
Is Aspartame Bad For Me?
There has been a lot of research on the health effects of artificial sweeteners over the years, with some evidence that aspartame may pose a risk to humans.
In 2006, Italian researchers at the Ramazzini Institute discovered that aspartame causes proliferation of malignancies in the viscera of rats and mice. A follow-up study published in Environment healthy in 2021 verified these findings in rodents, adding that “prenatal aspartame exposure increases cancer risk in rodents’ offspring.” The authors recommend that food and regulatory agencies take steps to reconsider and potentially limit exposure to artificial sweeteners in pregnant women.
However, the findings are much more murky when it comes to humans. While there is some evidence that the substance may be linked to health problems like cancer, heart disease, and even depression, the research is largely inconclusive and lacks scientific consensus. common sense when it comes to aspartame.
“Artificial sweeteners have really been under scrutiny in the research world for years now, due to concerns about how highly processed they are and what that might mean for them,” Iyengar said. cancer risk. “With aspartame in particular, the evidence has been really mixed.”
He added that when it comes to large population studies, only a few “show a slightly increased cancer risk associated with the consumption of significant amounts of aspartame” and “there are also some studies showing There are no risks associated with consuming aspartame. “
Iyengar noted that there have been many recent studies regarding the effects of aspartame on Human gut microbiota. Since gut bacteria play a huge role in protecting the body against disease including cancer, any change that can negatively impact it can have a negative impact on your health. all body.
“We know that the more diverse a person’s gut microbiome, the lower the risk of developing certain cancers,” he said. “Aspartame may reduce gut microbiota diversity.”
Should I Avoid Diet Soda?
According to Iyengar, that is the wrong view. He argues that there are acceptable and unacceptable levels of risk that we should all take into account when leading a healthy lifestyle. For example, if you are dealing with risk factors such as nicotine addiction, alcoholism, and/or obesity, you should focus primarily on addressing those issues before having to worry about occasional problems. Drink Diet Coke.
And if aspartame-containing food and beverage products like sugar-free desserts and diet sodas help you cut down on eating and drinking unhealthy calories, that outweighs any risks you take. may be encountered when consuming them.
“Lifestyle risk factors such as obesity greatly influence cancer risk,” explains Iyengar. “We know from many nutritional studies that it is really our overall dietary pattern, rather than reducing it to single micronutrients like aspartame or single foods that have an impact. to our cancer risk.”
He added that if someone is eating an overall healthy diet, but is drinking a diet drink “here and there” he is not “particularly worried about it.” there”. In his view, the real problem is if people start putting aspartame and diet foods on par with greater risk factors.
“I think the potential negative effect is if it creates more anxiety and people start thinking about it as a risk factor on par with something like obesity,” he said. “I think that’s the problem, because there’s really no comparison. Obesity is a much bigger risk factor.”
So if you are generally healthy and very conscious of what goes into your body, then you should cut back or avoid diet soda and artificial sweeteners the same way you would eat a steak or delicious cheese sandwiches. Sometimes it’s fine, but like so many great things in life, it’s better if you just do it in moderation.
